Thursday, March 01, 2007

Who populates the gifted classes, honors programs, and advanced placement courses in the nation's middle and high schools? The nation's elite of course.

Among children aged 12 to 17, those from high-income families and those with the most highly-educated parents are most likely to be in gifted classes, including honors and advanced placement courses. Among children in families with monthly incomes below $1,500 ($18,000 per year), only 15 percent are in gifted classes. The figure is 32 percent among children in families with monthly incomes of $6,000 or more ($72,000 per year).

The education gap is even more pronounced. Only 10 percent of children whose parents did not graduate from high school are in gifted classes. Among those whose parents have graduate-level degrees, the figure is 45 percent.

ABOUT ME

Demographer and editorial director of New Strategist Press, Cheryl Russell is the former editor-in-chief of American Demographics magazine and The Boomer Report. She has written numerous books about demographic trends. Ms. Russell is a professional demographer with a master's degree from Cornell University.